All the Tired Horses
by wildcivilization
Summary: Darren is sick and passes out after a long day on set. But is it just a simple cold or something more serious? RPF
1. Chapter 1

AN: Hi everyone, so this is my first Glee/RPF fic, I thought I could give it a try and see where it goes. I got this idea from someone who said that Darren is currently sick.

Chapter 1

Darren awoke to the sound of his alarm clock buzzing. He quickly turned it off and rolled on his side, groaning as he opened his eyes to look at the time. It was 4:30 AM. He had exactly one hour to be on set, which was usually enough as he only had a ten minutes drive to the Paramount studios. But he had the feeling that one hour won't be enough for him today. His body was aching everywhere, and he was pretty sure he had a fever. '_great, a cold. Just what I needed'_ he thought. He was usually a morning person and was always full of energy, even so early when the rest of his neighborhood was still asleep, but today he would give anything just to stay in bed for at least one more hour. He used all of his strength to get out of bed and had to steady himself as he felt light headed and dizzy. he hated being sick. Not that anyone liked it, but when he had to be on a show like glee, which was very demanding physically, it just made things harder. It's not like he could take a sick day and just sleep it off. It would cost hundred of thousands of dollars to the production to rearrange the entire filming schedule just because one of their actors was sick or hurt. It was one of the downsides of being of the job.

He slowly made his way to the bathroom and looked at himself in the mirror. He had dark circles around his eyes, his usually tanned skin was pale and sweat was dripping from his forehead. He ran a hand through his short curly hair and shrugged, it was nothing the hair and makeup people couldn't fix. The young actor hurried to his morning routine and soon found himself in the kitchen, starring at the open fridge for a while until he decided that he wasn't hungry. Darren looked at his watch and was surprised to see that he was on time. He grabbed his backpack, his car keys and slowly got into his car. As soon as he was behind the wheel he let out a sight, realizing that he was completely drained, his wet t-shirt was sticking to his skin and his chest was hurting him. He closed his eyes for a few seconds before opening them and starting the engine. It was going to be a long day.

Forty minutes later, Darren was in his trailer, script in hand as he went through his lines one last time before rehearsals. He had his 'Blaine' hair but was still wearing his blue jeans, Michigan shirt and Vans sneakers. Someone knocked on his door.

"Yes?" A small brunette, shyly opened the door.

"Hi Darren, rehearsals are going to start in 5."

"Alright, thanks Jenny" He said with a smile. The PA smiled back and closed the door.

The young man stepped out and was met by the rest of his co-stars opening their trailer doors one by one. After exchanging a few hand shakes and hugs, the group walked to the studio together talking about their plans for the weekend. Darren wasn't really paying attention, his head was hurting him and he wasn't really feeling like joining the conversation.

"Is everything alright, Darren?" He looked down at Lea with a small smile.

"Yeah, I'm fine, why?"

"Oh, nothing. It's just that in the morning you're usually jumping all over the place, especially on fridays. But today you seem kinda…off" She choose her last word carefully.

"I just have a headache and I'm tired, that's all" he reassured her.

Lea took a good look at her friend's face, he did look tired. She opened her purse, fished out a bottle of Advil and handed it to him.

"Here, take two pills, it should help you get through the morning. I know how hard it is when you have a headache while filming. Believe me, those pills will be your best friends today"

"I believe you, I saw how desperate you looked when you couldn't find them last week" Darren laughed as he took the bottle and opened the door for her.

Lea was right. The pills helped, to a certain extent. The medication was starting to wear off, and now, three hours later, he just felt miserable. He was pretty sure that his fever had gotten worse, and dancing for three hours straight sure hadn't helped. He was out of breath and felt like someone was stabbing him in the chest. He tried his best to follow the rest of the cast, only missing a few moves. Which didn't go unnoticed by Zach.

"Darren, can you try to focus please!" The choreographer said irritated.

"Sorry" the actor apologized.

"Alright, let's start from the top, guys" moans of protest could be heard from the group, which made him feel even worse. He looked at the clock on the wall and felt like crying when he saw that it was only 9:30 AM.

By the end of the day, Darren was pretty sure that he was going to die. They had finally started filming at 10 AM and were now shooting the last scene of the week. It was 5 PM now and he couldn't wait to get this day over with. They were filming the dance scene for the ninth time, or was it the the tenth? He had lost count a while ago. They had filmed it from every angle possible and by now, he couldn't care less as long as he didn't have to do it again.

"CUT!" yelled the director. "Good job guys, see you all on monday"

_'Finally!' _Darren thought. And all of the sudden, as if his body knew, he couldn't move properly. His legs felt weak and his vision blurred. He saw Chord and Harry talking to him but their voices felt like they were miles away.

"Great moves, dude! What are you doing this- Hey, are you OK?" Harry asked with concern as he saw the younger man's face. His eyes were glassy and unfocused and he was swaying on his feet.

He and Chord just had time to catch him before he fell on the ground.

The last thing Darren was aware of before everything went black was the sound of people rushing around him.

AN: So, what do you think so far, should I continue this story? Please review


	2. Chapter 2

AN: First of all, thank you for your reviews and messages. It's what keeps me writing, so if you have anything to say, good or bad, please let me know. I always love to hear people's opinion.

Everyone was now gathering around the unconscious man on the floor. Some people who were already starting to leave the room came rushing back to see the cause of the panic. The whole cast and crew stood there in shock, not really knowing what to do, until Zach knelt down next to Darren. He looked at the actor, searching for any possible injury and when he found none, looked closely at his unusual pale face and put a hand on his forehead.

"He's burning up!"

"I'm going to call the set doctor" one of the PA said, walkie talkie in hand.

"Did he hit his head when he fell?" Zach asked to Harry and Chord. They both shook their head.

"We just had time to catch him before he hit the ground" Harry answered.

"Darren, can you hear me? open your eyes, buddy" Zach said as he lightly slapped Darren's cheek, trying to wake him up. Everyone in the room was silent, not daring to move as they were expectantly waiting for the young man to regain consciousness.

After a few more seconds, Darren stirred as his eyes slowly flickered open and let out a groan as he came around. Loud sighs of relief could be heard from the group as they let out the breath they were holding.

"Wh- what happened?" the actor asked, as he saw at least 40 faces looking at him with concern. '_Why is everyone staring at me? and why am I on the floor?'_ he thought.

"You just passed out on us, man" Cory said.

Darren's face paled even more as his memory came rushing back to him. _'oh god, this is so embarrassing!'. _ He felt so weak, laying on the floor while people were watching him. Suddenly, he sympathized for those poor animals at the zoo, because this is exactly how he felt right now. He had never passed out before and all those eyes on him made him feel exposed.

At that moment, the set doctor walked into the room and kneeled next to him, right where Zach was standing seconds ago.

"Hello Darren, I'm Doctor Burton. Do you remember what happened before you passed out?" He asked as he checked his pulse.

"We'd just finished filming, and I was really tired and dizzy and then the last thing I remember is Harry and Chord talking to me but I couldn't hear them" The older man scribbled something on a paper.

"How long has he been out?" The doctor asked Zach.

"For about five minutes" he quickly said after looking at the clock.

"How have you been feeling since this morning?"

"Not so good, I'm starting to have a cold and I think dancing for so long didn't help" Darren answered. He wanted to just go home and sleep for a month.

"Did you have anything to eat or drink today?"

Darren forehead wrinkled as he tried to remember.

"I just drank a glass of water and had an apple for lunch" The older man frowned. After a few more questions the doctor concluded that he was suffering from hypoglycemia and dehydration. He handed him a bottle of water and Darren drank half of it.

"You should feel better after you've eaten a real meal. Your fever is probably a combination of your cold and dehydration. Nothing to worry about. Did the water help"

It did, in fact help the dizziness go away and the cold liquid felt good down his throat. But he still felt like crap.

"Yes it did, I'm feeling a little better" It wasn't totally true. His chest was still hurting, he was having a hard time breathing and his headache had gotten worse. But he didn't want to have to answer any more questions in front of the people he was working with. He felt stupid enough for passing out because of a dumb cold.

The doctor finally left a few minutes later after giving him a few indications and a medicine prescription for his cold. After a few_ "get better" ," see you on monday"_ and _"I'm glad you're alright"_ The room had started emptying slowly and Darren felt relieved as the only people left were some of his co-stars and Zach.

"So, who's taking you home?" the choreographer asked.

"I'm-" Zach cut him.

"And don't tell me you're driving yourself, because you are in no condition to do so" Darren didn't try to argue, it was a lost battle.

"Well, no one's home. Joey is in Boston and Jeff's in Chicago" he said, referencing to his two roommates. "So I guess I'm just going to take a cab."

"Don't be silly!" Dianna said "I can drive you home if you want, it's on my way." Chris, Lea, Harry, Cory, Naya, Mark and Chord all offered to drive him too. After arguing for a few minutes, they all decided on Dianna since she lived the closest.

"I don't have any plans for the weekend, so call me if you need anything" Chris said.

"Cory and I are going to San Diego, but I can drop by and leave you some soup before we leave" Lea proposed.

"Mark and I will probably go disk golfing, so if you feel up to it by sunday, maybe you could join us!" Chord added.

"Thank you" Darren smiled "to all of you, it's really nice to know that I can count on you guys. Chris, I will definitely call you. Lea, I would love some soup. And Chord, I'll gladly join you if I'm feeling better. But right now, I want to get off this floor."

"Can you walk to your trailer by yourself?" Mark asked with concern.

Darren was now sitting on the floor, his back against the wall. Remembering that he was wearing Blaine's clothes, he realized that he would have to get changed before going home.

"Yeah, I think so. The room stopped spinning a while ago, I should be fine" He slowly started getting up, using the wall for support. His friends were looking at him, prepared to catch him if needed.

"See? I"m-" his sentence was cut short as he started coughing violently, a pained expression on his face. When he had finally stopped, he was holding his chest, his eyes squeezed shut trying to catch his breathing.

"You were going to say fine, weren't you?" Chris asked sarcastically.

Darren was leaning against the wall and looked at his worried friends.

"Don't worry, it's nothing a good night of sleep and Lea's soup won't cure" Nobody looked really convinced.

"Well at least if you pass out again carrying your ass to the ER won't be that hard, even Lea could do it." Naya joked to lighten the mood. Which seemed to work as they all started laughing and making jokes about Darren's height.

The walk to his trailer took forever. With Chris' help he had finally managed to get inside and after thanking him and promising to call him if needed for the tenth time, shut his door as his on-screen boyfriend walked away. He walked near the bed in his small trailer, eying it with envy. The thought of just crashing onto the mattress and wake up on monday was very tempting. He gave one last look at the bed and stripped off of his costume, glad to get rid of the hideous and ridiculously warm cardigan. He took off his boxers and got into the shower, washing off the makeup and gel on his hair, hoping that the lukewarm water would make his fever drop a little. He closed his eyes and tried to relax as the water ran down his body.

Twenty minutes later, Darren was sitting in Dianna's car fast asleep.

Dianna looked at her sleeping friend, he looked so young and peaceful like that. His cheeks were flushed, probably from the fever. And his still wet hair was starting to curl, giving him a boyish appearance. His head was resting against the window, lips slightly parted and as she parked her car in his driveway, she decided to let him sleep a few more minutes, not having the heart to wake him up.

AN: I'm not really satisfied with this chapter. I kept re-writing it but couldn't get it quite right. Before you ask, no, this is not a Dianna/Darren or CrissColfer fic. It is purely friendship between the cast members. Please review and tell me what you thought. I hope that my portraying of Darren and the rest of the actors is close to reality, It's always hard writing real people


	3. Chapter 3

**AN**: Hi everyone, sorry it took so long to update this chapter. Enjoy!

**Chapter 3**

"Darren? Dare, wake up" Dianna gently nudged him, feeling guilty for waking him up.

"hmm, don't want to!" Darren said visibly half asleep, eyes still closed.

"C'mon Dare, you'll sleep better in your bed. The position you're in doesn't look so comfortable" Darren opened his eyes at the mention of his bed.

"Now we're talking" he said jokingly, rubbing his eyes. "shit, it's already 6:30 PM?"

"Yeah, I let you sleep for a while, I figured that a few more minutes of shut eye wouldn't hurt" Dianna said smiling. "plus, you say weird things when you're unconscious, it's quite entertaining!"

Darren laughed as he opened the car door "everything you've heard was the fever talking, and making fun of the delirious guy isn't nice, Miss Agron. Remember that I still have that video of you, drunk at Harry's party"

"Fair enough…" Dianna said, remembering the party in question as she also opened her door and stepped outside of the car, walking towards Darren.

"Wh-what are you doing?" He asked.

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm helping you inside, you can barely stand up." She gestured at the man leaning against the car as support. Darren shook his head. _'No way!'_ he thought. This day had been embarrassing enough, he wasn't going to let Dianna help him walk inside, his pride had been hurt enough for today.

"You don't have to, really. I'm feeling much better after that nap, thanks to you" he gave her his best smile as he tried to convince the older woman.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, thanks for the lift by the way. I know that you couldn't wait for the weekend to start, I don't want to hold you any longer"

"Stop that, you're not holding me! I don't really have any plans for the weekend anyways, so call me if you need anything"

After hugging her co-star, Dianna got back into her car and drove away, waving goodbye. Darren slowly walked towards his house, climbed the few steps leading to the door and entered his house. He felt relieved to be alone, he was glad that his friends cared for him, but right now all he wanted was his bed. He looked at the stairs separating him from his bedroom, let out a sigh, and decided that the couch will do just fine. He dropped his backpack in the hallway carelessly on his way to the living room and crashed on the blue couch, closing his eyes. He was thankful for the empty and silent house. He loved having roommates, but living with two other guys also meant constant noise, and right now, he wasn't sure he could deal with the sound of loud cartoons and video games.

By 11:00 PM that day, Darren felt miserable. Well, he was way past miserable, but he hadn't found a word for it yet. His whole body felt like it was on fire, he was sweating so much that he had already changed t-shirts twice and had just renounced wearing one. The coughing fits had started to become more frequent and lasted longer that the one he'd had on set, leaving his body completely drained and his chest even more painful. He was now sitting on his couch, wrapped in a blanket while eating the soup that Lea had brought earlier as promised. Despite being so hot, he was shivering and was having a hard time trying not to spill food all over him. Darren wasn't even that hungry, but he didn't want to take his medication in an empty stomach, so he forced himself to eat at least half of it. He finished the last spoon of soup and sat back, looking at the TV without really paying attention. He started dozing off but was awakened by another coughing fit, tears rolling down his rosy cheeks. He was feeling so helpless that at this right moment, he would have given anything to be a kid again and have his mom take care of him. She always knew what to do when he and Chuck were sick. After a few seconds of hesitation, he took his phone, scrolled through his contacts until he found the one he was looking for and hit the 'call' button.

"Hello?" came a soft voice at the other end of the line.

All of the sudden, Darren's heart melted at the sound of his mother's voice. Hearing it was so comforting and warm that in his state, even that simple word made him instantly feel better.

"Hi, mom"

"Oh, hello sweetie, is everything alright? you usually don't call so late" his mother asked concerned. Darren could picture her worried face and mentally kicked himself for disturbing her.

"I'm good, I just wanted to talk to you. I didn't notice it was so late, I'm sorry" He said apologetically.

"It's alright, don't worry about it. But I can tell that you are not telling me the truth, is something bothering you?"

"H-how do you know?" Darren was always surprised at how well his mother could tell when something was wrong.

"I'm your mother, it is my job to know when one of my boy isn't feeling well" Mrs. Criss answered.

The young man couldn't help but smile at his mother's words "And you're doing your job pretty well".

"Tell me what's wrong sweetie" she asked concern still present in her voice.

"Don't worry it's nothing serious, I'm just a little sick and was wondering if you knew how to get a fever down"

"How sick exactly? fevers are usually the result of some infection"

"Uhm, it's just a cold, I've had it since I woke up this morning, I can't stop coughing and my chest really hurts" God, he hated how pathetic he sounded right now.

"This looks more serious than just a cold, have you seen a doctor yet?" His mom was now sounding worried.

"Yeah, one of the doctors on set came and told me that it was just hypoglycemia mixed with the cold"

"hypoglycemia? I don't understand, how is it linked to the fever? And aren't set doctors only called for emergencies?"

Darren was silent, he didn't really know how to answer this question without having his mom jump on the next plane to LA.

"I… well, I kind of passed out on set today"

"You what? Oh my God, Darren why didn't you tell me this first?"

"Because I didn't want you to worry, which is exactly what is happening" Darren said frustrated.

"Of course I am worried! It has to be more than a simple cold, you've never passed out before. This is very serious Darren, do you want me to come?"

"No mom, you don't need to. It's very nice of you but I'm pretty sure I'll feel better once the fever goes down, I don't want you to take the plane just for this" He knew that money wasn't a problem for his parents, but having his mother travel all the way from San Francisco because he was sick was kind of ridiculous.

"Are you sure? It's only an hour and a half flight, I could be there by tomorrow morning. I don't like you being by yourself, what if you pass out again?" She was in full mother hen mode now.

"Listen, I'll call you tomorrow morning and if I'm not feeling better by then, you can come over. Alright?" Darren asked, knowing that she was probably already packing.

"Ok, but I want you to call me as soon as you wake up. You should try taking a lukewarm bath to reduce the fever, and drink plenty of water"

"I will, thanks mom. I promise I'll call you tomorrow, have a good night, love you!"

"I love you too, try to rest and don't hesitate to call if you need to"

After his conversation with his mom, Darren couldn't help but feel guilty. He knew that she'll spend the whole night awake, worrying about him _'well done Darren' _. He sat on the couch contemplating wether or not he should go upstairs and take a bath, already exhausted by the thought of it. He slowly stood up, setting his blanket aside and shivering as cool air made contact with his sweaty and bare body. He tried his best not to fall over or knock anything out on his way to the bathroom and finally reached the top of the stairs completely out of breath. He started coughing again, caught off guard as he barely had time to hold onto the banister, preventing him from rolling down the stairs. He sat down on the last step trying to breathe normally again _' yeah, definitely no a simple cold' _

Although he hated to admit it, he needed help. Seeing how hard a simple task such as walking up a staircase was, he realized that there was no way he could get through the night without hurting himself and giving his mother a heart attack. Darren closed his eyes for a moment, resting his head against the wall and fished his iPhone out of his jeans pocket. He looked at his contacts on his phone for the second time of the night and hit the call button, waiting for the person at the other end of the line to pick up.

**AN: **Who is Darren is calling? And what did you think of this chapter? please Review and tell me how you like it so far!


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